🌆 Infra Futures #11

Happy Monday 👋

The United Kingdom achieved a significant milestone in EV adoption this week, surpassing 70,000 public charging stations. This marks a substantial increase from April 2022, when the country had 60,000 public chargers. Meanwhile, in the United States, the second quarter of 2024 saw continued growth in public EV charging infrastructure, building on the positive momentum from the first quarter. Previously, a report by JD Power highlighted a critical issue hindering the transition to electric mobility: a lack of proper maintenance for public EV charging stations. This deficiency was identified as a significant barrier to widespread EV adoption. This week also witnessed approximately $9B in investments into upgrading rail infrastructure across Australia and Europe. BlackRock completed its acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners for over $12B recording one of the largest acquisitions in this space.

🏗️ Energy Infrastructure

🔌 UK Hits Major Milestone with 70,000 Public EV Chargers. The number of public EV charging devices in the UK surpassed 70,000, a milestone reached just five months after recording 60,000 public chargers in April 2022.

🔋 Public EV Charging Infrastructure Improves in the US. Consumer intelligence firm J.D. Power found that the public EV charging infrastructure in the US improved in the second quarter of 2024, continuing the positive trend from the first quarter. 

⚡ US Funds Major Transmission Line Projects. The US Department of Energy selected four transmission line projects for $1.5B in funding to add nearly 1,000 miles of transmission lines and 7,100 MW of capacity across six states.

🚘 Transport Infrastructure

🚈 Major Contracts Awarded for Rail Infrastructure Project. The Australian government awarded two of three major contracts for the $5.8B Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail project, which aims to improve rail infrastructure in the region.

🚧 EU Invests $2.7B to Enhance Transport Infrastructure. The European Commission has announced the opening of the 2024 Connecting Europe Facility with a $2.7B budget to improve resilience and safety across the EU's transport network.

🚈 Billion-Dollar Tender for Rail Baltica Project. A new tender worth up to $1B has been offered for the Rail Baltica project, a major European transport infrastructure initiative involving Estonia.

🏛️ Buildings

🔥 UK Government Boosts Heat Pump Grant Scheme Budget. The UK government increased the annual budget for the heat pump grant scheme by £50 million. Ed Miliband has granted Ofgem permission to over-allocate up to £50 million of Boiler Upgrade Scheme grants in this financial year.

🪨 Carbon-neutral granite concrete used in a NYC skyscraper. A new type of carbon-neutral concrete made from granite instead of limestone has been used for the first time in a skyscraper under construction in Manhattan, New York City.

🏫 Social Infrastructure

🏗️ China's local governments slow infrastructure bond issuance. Faced with falling revenues, Chinese local governments are issuing debt to finance infrastructure projects at the slowest pace in three years.

💰 Infra Deals

🏗️ BlackRock Acquires Global Infrastructure Partners for Over $12 Billion. BlackRock completed the acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners, a major infrastructure investment firm, in a deal valued at over $12B.

⚡ Scala Data Centers Secures $550M Funding. Scala Data Centers, a data center company, raised $550M in funding from Coatue Tactical Solutions and Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO).

🏠 Japanese firm acquires majority stake in Australian homebuilder. Sumitomo Forestry, a Japanese company acquired a majority stake in Metricon, Australia's largest homebuilder, for $79M. 

⚡ Submer raises $55.5M to make datacenters greener. Submer, a company that provides greener datacenters raised $55.5M in a growth funding round to address the increasing energy and water consumption of datacenters.

🏠 SEI Group Expands with Acquisitions of Pro Foam Insulators and Accu-coat Spray Products. SEI Group LLC, a leading installer of insulation and specialty building products acquired Pro Foam Insulators, Ltd. and Accu-coat Spray Products, LLC.

Thank you for reading. Have a great week ahead!
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